France to block US envoy Charles Kushner from having access to government ministers

People take part in a march in tribute to 23-year-old far-right activist Quentin Deranque who died from head injuries following clashes in Lyon between radical left and far-right supporters. Photo / Olivier Chassignole, AFP

France today moved to block United States envoy Charles Kushner from having access to government ministers, after he failed to show up to explain comments about a killed far-right activist.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot summoned Kushner after the US Embassy in Paris yesterday reposted comments by the Trump Administration in Washington about Quentin Deranque.

Deranque, 23, died from head injuries following clashes between radical-left and far-right supporters on the sidelines of a February 12 protest against a politician from the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) party in Lyon.

Barrot denounced any attempts to exploit the killing “for political ends” and summoned Kushner for a meeting.

But a diplomatic source told AFP that the ambassador - whose son, Jared, is married to US President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka -sent a senior official from the embassy in his place, citing personal commitments.

“In light of this apparent failure to grasp the basic requirements of the ambassadorial mission and the honour of representing one’s country, the minister [Barrot] has requested that he [Kushner] no longer be allowed direct access to members of the French Government,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Kushner would, however, be permitted to continue his diplomatic duties and have “exchanges” with officials, it added in a statement.

The US Administration had denounced far-left political violence and called for those responsible to be brought to justice.

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has also weighed in, triggering a war of words with French President Emmanuel Macron, who urged her to stop “commenting on what happens in other countries”.

Kushner, who took up his post in Paris last year, had already been summoned to the Foreign Ministry at the end of August, after the French Government took exception to his criticism that Macron was not tackling anti-Semitism.

The US charge d’affaires - the ambassador’s de facto deputy - attended that meeting.

-Agence France-Presse